1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
245 
the distinguishing properties of the summer variety, it 
must be a valuable acquisition to our country. 
For two years I have cultivated the “ Improved 
White-Flint,” or “Harmon wheat,” which I obtained 
from Gen. Harmon, of Wheatland, N. Y. The berry is 
very even in size, the best and handsomest wheat I ever 
saw. On less than four acres of sandy loam we sowed 
about 54 bushels, September 8th, 1844. The land is 
not what we call “ wheat land,” in this section; not 
very strong soil, yet I Was happily disappointed in har¬ 
vesting 113 bushels from the piece of the best w*heat 
that I have seen raised here for the last 15 years. The 
millers pronounce it such. 
The heads are a little bearded, white, rather short, 
but extremely well filled. The straw is very stiff, of 
good proportion, bearing but few leaves; it is quite 
small near the head, hard, and not inclined to lodge; 
the berry is of good size, very white and solid, which 
produces but little bran. One very great advantage in 
this variety, as well as in the Black Sea, is, it does not 
shell in gathering, though quite ripe. I have now the 
second and more promising crop growing on stronger 
land. This wheat is so well known that it needs no 
praise. Mr. Harmon informed me, last wfinter, that he 
sold over 1200 bushels for seed last fall, of this kind of 
wheat. Sales more extensively in his own region, but 
had received many orders from the south, middle, and 
western states, as well as New-England and the Canadas. 
S. W. Jewett. 
Weybridge, Vt., June 12, 1846. 
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING-. 
« The offspring of some animals is very unlike them¬ 
selves; it is, therefore, a good precaution to try the 
young males with a few females, the qualities of whose 
produce has been already ascertained; by this means 
we shall know the sort,of stock they get, and the de¬ 
scription of females to which they are best adapted.”— 
[, Sebright’s Essay on the Art of Improving the Breeds 
of Domestic Animals J’] 
In various races, animals are now and then produced 
which are the means of effecting extraordinary im¬ 
provements. Some individuals possess a remarkable 
and inexplicable power of transmitting their good 
qualities, or of begetting stock superior to themselves. 
It is true that what are called well-bred animals 
usually transmit their qualities with greater certainty 
than others; and in selecting breeding stock which has 
not been proved, due regard should of course be had to 
blood and pedigree. But the faculty alluded to is not 
always possessed in proportion to the degree in which 
any particular blood is inherited, for animals of exactly 
the same blood frequently beget progeny of very differ¬ 
ent qualities. In swine, for instance, it is not ’uncom¬ 
mon for the offspring of boars which were of the same 
litter, to vary much in shape and disposition to fatten. 
It is so with sheep; of rams that are twins, or. those 
■which are the produce of the same buck and ewe, one 
frequently proves far superior as a stock -getter to the 
others. The progeny of stallions of the same blood are 
sometimes quite various. It is not very rare that one 
male among several produced by the same parents, be¬ 
comes noted for the value of his stock, though the re¬ 
mainder of the family acquire no particular reputation 
in this respect. Perhaps no very satisfactory reason 
can be given, why the progeny and descendants of the 
horse Messenger have proved so much more valuable 
fir business purposes than most other blood horses in 
this country. Neither can the superior qualities which 
have distinguished the descendants of the “old Justin 
Morgan horse,” (the ancestor of the “Morgan” stock,) 
be fully accounted for by any rules wfith which we are 
acquainted. 
These remarks are also equally applicable to cattle. 
In the variety so widely known as improved Short 
Horns, great improvement has been attribtued to the 
bull Hubback, whose qualities, as well as those of his pro¬ 
geny, are generally acknowledged to have been much su¬ 
perior to what the Short-Horns generally were before 
their time. And we may properly mention in this con¬ 
nection, two bulls, descendants of Hubback, viz., Favo¬ 
rite and Comet—the former the sire of the latter. Al¬ 
though they were nearly similar in blood, Favorite 
was much the most celebrated as a valuable stock-get¬ 
ter, notwithstanding Comet brought at public auction 
the enormous sum of one thousand guineas. A noted 
Finglish breeder, in speaking of these bulls, says— 
“Comet was never the father of as good an one as him¬ 
self; it was otherwise with his sire. Favorite stamped 
all his offspring as superior to himself; perhaps no bull 
ever begat so many good bulls and cows.” 
Of several examples of this kind which have oc¬ 
curred within our own observation, we cannot omit the 
mention of one in particular which appeared to us quite 
striking. 
A few months ago, while examining the stock of Mr. 
Horatio Sargeant, of Springfield, Mass., our atten¬ 
tion was specially attracted by several animals in the 
herd, which, besides their fine forms and silky coats, 
were remarkable for their great resemblance to each 
other—exhibiting an uniformity in shape and general 
qualities seldom witnessed. On inquiry, we were in¬ 
formed by Mr. Sargeant that these animals sprung 
from a bull called Red Comet, which he had formerly 
owned. He observed that he was the most remarkable 
animal as a stock-getter he had ever known—that all 
his progeny were most strikingly marked with his own 
good points, and that they proved excellent for all pur¬ 
poses. These remarks stimulated us to learn the full 
history of the animal. Mr. S. informed us that the bull 
was bred by Henry Watson, Esq., of East Windsor, 
Ct., but could not state particulars in regard to his blood. 
Mr. S. purchased him in Granville, Mass., where he 
had been kept several years. As the stock which he 
had begotten while at that place, grew up and were 
proved, their superiority for the dairy and other pur¬ 
poses became so obvious, that one of his former owners 
was induced to re-purchase him, and he was therefore, 
though then at an advanced age, taken back to Gran¬ 
ville, where the farmers gladly availed themselves of 
his services for several years. 
Shortly after our interview with Mr. Sargeant we 
wrote to H. Watson, Esq., for additional facts in re¬ 
gard to the animal which had been the cause of so 
much improvement, and from his reply we make the 
following extracts. 
“You ask a history, &c., of the bull bred by me, that 
for a time was in the hands of Mr. Horatio Sargeant. 
The pedigree of that animal is as follows. Red Comet, 
(1591,) dark red, calved 26th June, 1827; got by Wye 
Comet, dam Flora, bred by me, by imported bull Hol- 
derness, alias Fortunatus; g. d., Belle bred by me, by 
Young Denton, (963 ;) < gr. g. d., Crowfoot, a native red 
cow. 
“I sold this bull to Ward Woodbridge, Esq., and he 
let him one year to Gen. Parsons, of Granville, Mass., 
and the next year sold him to Gen. Parsons, who kept 
him for three or four years, and sold him to Horatfo 
Sargeant, of Springfield, Mass. Mr. Sargeant kept 
him three or four years, when Gen. Parsons bought 
him back, and kept him one or two years. He then 
sold him, and he went to Woodstock, in this state, 
where, I believe, he died. After being used two years 
while at Woodstock, his owner came to see me and 
ascertain his pedigree. The bull was then twelve 
years old, and had been put that year to over 100 cows, 
at $3 each. The stock of his getting, while at Gran¬ 
ville, all turned out fine cows for milk and excellent 
steers for the yoke and shambles, and that was what 
induced Gen. Parsons to get him back. While at 
Springfield he got more good milkers and fine steers 
than any bull that ever stood in that vicinity. I have 
seen a great many animals of his get, and they were 
uniformly superior. He was unquestionably used to 
more native and cross-bred cows than any bull ever 
kept in New-England. His descendants from such 
